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The minister, an old friend of Ruby’s mother, beamed between them as he spoke the last words of the ceremony. “You may now kiss the bride.”
Ares looked at her. Ruby’s dark hair, covered with a translucent lace veil embroidered with red flowers, was edged gold by the bright Idaho sun. She was wearing her mother’s simple vintage dress of cream lace, and her beautiful face was transcendent with joy as she smiled up at him.
Their six-month-old baby was honorary flower girl, dressed in a sweet yellow cotton dress. Her proud aunt Ivy held her in her arms as Velvet wasn’t walking yet. But the baby, chubby and happy, waved her arms wildly and gurgled a laugh, as if she knew her parents had just been wed.
Velvet wasn’t the only one. As the summer wind rattled softly through the trees, their friends and family, including Ruby’s distant cousins from Coeur d’Alene, all cheered. And Ares wished he could freeze this moment in time and make it last the rest of his life. His wife’s smiling face. Their baby’s laugh. The gleam of sunshine against the gold rings they both now wore.
He blinked hard, trying to make a picture in his mind and heart he’d always remember. The day he’d gained happiness greater than he’d ever deserved.
“Kiss her!” one of their friends heckled. Ruby’s smile widened as she looked up at him, her red lips trembling, her warm brown eyes shining with love.
Reaching out, Ares pulled his bride into his arms. “You’ve made me so happy.”
“Me, too,” she whispered.
“Not such a fool after all,” called Mrs. Ford. His former housekeeper, upon hearing that Ares was back with Ruby, had immediately informed him that she would do him the privilege of working for him again. He’d brought her, along with other friends and staff members, to Star Valley for the wedding. He would even have invited Poppy, out of gratitude for her accidental help, if she wasn’t already off sailing the world with her fencing instructor. What else was a private jet for?
He grinned at the housekeeper.
“Never a fool again,” he vowed.
His wife put her hand in his. “We’ll be fools together.”
Ares’s heart twisted with pride. Ruby’s business was booming. Their child was thriving. The ski lodge had become a comfortable, colorful home. Last month, he’d even offered to officially move his company headquarters to Star Valley to support her.
But Ruby had refused. “I know you love New York,” she’d said. “For you, it will always be the center of the world.”
“Not anymore,” he’d said huskily. “The center of my world is you.”
With two separate businesses, they would split their time between New York and Star Valley, traveling always as a family. It would be complicated, he knew. But as their friends cheered in the sunny June afternoon, Ares could hardly wait for the mayhem to begin.
He’d lived a half-life before he met Ruby. A shallow, meaningless existence. Now, because of her, Ares finally knew what it felt like to be truly rich. Not in money, but in things that actually mattered. A wife. Friends. A home. Family.
“I love you,” Ruby whispered now, smiling, in happy tears as she looked up at him. He cupped her cheek.
“I will remember this moment for the rest of my life,” he said in a low voice. “As the day my life began.”
She tangled her fingers in his. “Our lives.”
“Yes,” he said over the lump in his throat. “Our lives.” He gave her a sudden wicked grin. Leaning forward, he whispered in her ear, “By the way, I’m going to get you pregnant tonight.”
Her gasp still rang in his ears as he ruthlessly covered her lips with his own. As the kiss deepened, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He heard cheering and applause. But in this moment, in this perfect kiss, it was just the two of them. Best friends, lovers. Married.
Their marriage began, blending all their past sorrows, all their future promise and strength. Life was complicated. Ares knew that now. There was no getting around it. It was rain and rainbows; darkness and sunshine. It was grief and joy and everything in between.
Ruby. Their baby. Their family.
On second thought, Ares realized, life wasn’t complicated at all. Life was simple.
It was love.
* * * * *
